Floral ornament.



LOUISE J. OLDEN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO GEORGE S. MOYNAHAN, OF SAME PLACE.

FLORAL ORNAMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 659,937, dated October 16, 1 900.

Application filed Juno 9, 1900. Serial No. 19,663. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LOUISE J. OLDEN, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have in vented certain Improvements in Floral Ornaments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an article of man ufacture which may be used for avariety of purposes-such as trimmings for millinery,

1o decorative and ornamental picture-framing,

and other interior decorations; but the particular purpose which I propose to use the article for is to represent floral ornaments, such as funeral-wreaths and the like, in which artificial means are employed to appear as real flowers.

I am aware that it is common to provide funeral decorations made to represent, for instance, immortelles, in which a backing is made'of suitable material, to which is glued a mass of coarse-powdered substance like sawdust colored to represent the appearance of the flowers named when they are packed close together; but my invention is not of this character.

The invention consists in preparing long narrow strips or ribbons of any suitable material as paper,silk,or fabric of any required texture and colorwhich may be shirred, plaited, or gathered, and the edges thereof may then be notched or frayed, and then laying one or more such ribbons flatwise and, if more than one, each upon the other, and placing a flexible wire upon the longitudinal center of the upper layer and folding the opposite edges of the layers together and stitching through the doubled edges as near as possible to the wire, or the ribbon may be otherwise secured to the wire, as by gumming or cementing the lapping surfaces around the same, after which the combined edges of the layers, which are thus all held close to one another, may be fluffed out, so as to present the appearance of im mortelles or other flowers when closely placed to each other.

In the drawings which illustrate the invention, Figure 1 represents a ribbon used in the article of manufacture. Fig. 2 shows the ribbon with its edges cut, slit, notched,or frayed. Fig. 3 shows the slitted-edge ribbon made into plaits or gathers and held by stitches. Fig.

3 is a modification in which the edges are uncut. Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-section of the article, showing two or more layers of ribbons stitched to a flexible wire; and Fig. 5 represents the article of manufacture bent into the form of a word for floral decorations.

In the figures, a is a ribbon of anyproper width and of any proper material, such as paper, silk, or cloth of any texture suitable for the purpose to which the finished article is to be applied. The edges of the ribbon may remain intact or be out, slit, notched, or frayed for quite a distance toward the center and may be made into plaits or gathers c by stitching e to increase its thickness and cause the edges to appear fluffy.

In assembling the parts if a plurality of lay ers are to be used, I may have a plain strip of ribbon, like Fig. 1, as the outer or under layer and place upon it one or more strips which have been plaited, shirred, or gathered, as shown by Fig. 3, and after the layers have been formed the flexible wire f is placed longitudinally of the layers, which are then folded so that their edges meet, in which position theyare secured by stitches 6 as shown in Fig. 4. The combined edges may then be flutfed out to any extent.

The article is made in long continuous pieces to be used, as shown by Fig. 5, for bonding into words and even sentences, and when made of suitable material the words thus formed may be placed upon graves or upon stone and marble surfaces and will withstand atmospheric changes for a long time, and for this purpose the flexible Wire is preferably of some non-oxidizable material, as copper, and is also preferably wound with thread or twine, like bonnetwire, to further protect the fabric.

By this invention I am enabled to imitate many kinds of flowers and produce lasting and pleasing results.

By placing a plain ribbon on the outside as the external layer a smooth external ap- 5 pearance is produced.

When but one layer of ribbon is to be used, I prefer to employ a strip that has been shirred, as a more fluffy appearance is thereby produced and the center of the ribbon may be I00 gummed o-r cemented and bent around the wire and held thereto by their surfaces adhering to each other, instead of being sewed, as preferred.

In the modification in Fig. 3 the ribbon is Shirred, plaited, or gathered to produce the fluffed appearance at the edges; but the latter are not cut in any way, and such.a ribbon when folded about and secured to a flexible wire is Within the spirit of my invention..

I claim- 1. An article of manufacture for decorative material foldedlengthwise along its middle around a straight metallic core which is adapted to be bent and to remain so, said strip having its edges cut or gathered to present a fluffed appearance and secured to said core with both edges brought together to intermingle with each other, whereby the cored edge of thecompleted article may be attached to a su plport and said cored edge entirely concealed by the combined fluffed edges.

2. An article of manufacture for decorative purposes, comprising a plurality of strips or ribbons of light material folded lengthwise around a straight metallic core which is adapted to be bent and to remain so, said strips having their edges cut or gathered to present a fluffed appearance and secured to the core by stitching extending through the folded strips adjacent to the core, the flu ffed edges of the strips intermingling with each purposes, comprising a strip or ribbon of light other,

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 7th day of June, 1900.

LOUISE J. OLDEN. Witnesses:

JOHN B. OLDEN, Gno. S. MOYNAHAN. 

